Officials worry about collapse of animal-waste lagoons at factory farms

Along the Mississippi River, they’re watching the levees. In northern Missouri, they’re watching the walls of lagoons holding back millions of gallons of animal waste.

Rains this week were filling waste lagoons on industrial farms, and some were leaking and overflowing.

State officials, worried that lagoon walls might collapse, have told farmers that they can lower lagoon levels by spraying the waste on fields, even though the ground was soaked from rainfall.

“All the lagoons are overflowing or right at the edge,” said Karl Fett, regional director of the Department of Natural Resources office in Lee’s Summit. “It is a dire situation.”

Click here for the full article.

Tagged as: Animal Waste, Animals, Factory Farms, Farm & Ranch, Farming, Mississippi River, Missouri, Waste Lagoons